Drinking games
by wanderingsmith
Summary: S/W - stuck in an el'vator? - posited as a sequel to Assuming
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Followed shortly with the thunk of glass on table  
Rating: PG13  
Disclaimer: Ain't got no money and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me; so there!

AN: _thanks to **anuna81** for help and encouragement (thank you, thank you, luv!) and thanks to **comancherider** for the super-speedy beta!_

"Five." The self-satisfied statement landed between the two men.

A grunt of annoyance was followed shortly with the thunk of heavy glass less than delicately set on the tabletop.

--  
An hour later.

"Twelve," a not-quite-sober growl announced.

The responding moan was followed with the clink of a glass put down gracelessly. A submerged-sounding, drunken whining replied, "Y' know, 'f'e waw'sat leachst going t' do something, it wo' almochst make up f' getting us drunk l'k this juch trying to count how of'en he..." Arms waved without coordination and the glass hit the floor with a worrisome, bright 'cling' sound.

A snort answered the complaint, followed by another growl, "Not gonna happen."

"Cou'd make 'em," drunken optimism insisted.

A raised brow accentuated amused eyes, "'Them'? How?"

".." Then the head rose from its forearm rest with reviving interest, "El'vator!"

"El'vator?" The heavy brows furrowed in confusion.

"Err... l'k transporter," the voice sounded less drunk as thought crept in with an almost audible effort. "Harder though... Cou'd... and then... Yeah! And Z'lenka wo'd help..."

The drunkenly shinning eyes and gleeful grin were a worrisome sight. On the other hand, making his buddy quit with the sad eyes would be a relief. And this promised to be fun in any case.


	2. Heating games

AN:_ **comanche rider** betaed an earlier version, which I've since tweaked following suggestions.. so all error are my own fault, feel free to point them out_

_when I started writting this second chapter I got it into my head to have it be in the same universe as Assuming not that it makes all that much difference.. just a few cryptic comments..._

_hey! :) anyone want to tell me how bad my characterisation is by guessing the name of the last character?_

**Chapter 2: Heating games**

"That was a very nice party." The cultured voice was quiet in the dimmed corridor.

A grin, "Yeah, nice to see everybody relax. You notice Rodney staggering out?" The leer was a clear indicator of evil plans in the works for the morning.

A warm laugh, "I'd call it more 'being carried'. It's not like him to drink though, did something happen?" Automatic watchfulness for the people of Atlantis was kicking in.

"I don't know, but him and Ronon were both staring at us half the night." A hand waved lazily to trigger a door sensor.

Another quiet laugh, causing a hidden sparkle of pleased accomplishment in hazel eyes, "Would you mind asking Mr. Dex to please not damage my scientists?" Two bodies entered the transport room, in no hurry to end the evening. Then the door closed with an oddly final-sounding thunk.

Two quick frowns for the door and then for the lack of lighting and dead control panel, laughter and smiles vanishing as work intruded with its usual surprise punch.

"What the Hell?"

A thin body shuddered as the air turned noticeably chill and a hand hurried to tap an earpiece, "Control room?"

A pause while in the background an impatient fist tried to wake the panel while grumbling about Ancients and their technology.

"Err, yes?"

"There's something wrong with this transporter; the door's locked and there doesn't appear to be any power in the room." Eyes jerked to the side as a body-warmed jacket landed on the speaker's narrow, shivering shoulders.

"Err, yes. We are investigating an issue with the control systems near you. I'm afraid it may take us a few moments to solve."

The deeper, impatient voice clicked into the conversation, "Well hurry it up will ya? The AC's on in here!"

"The... issue is affecting the environmental systems, as well, yes. I will get back to you as soon as I have an update."

Pithy swearing answered the closed connection.

Eyes rolled in amusement and a calmer voice interjected, "Can you get Atlantis to let us out?"

A confused frown, followed by a grumpy mumble, "No. It's ignoring me..."

A tired sigh, "Well I'm sitting down. My feet were looking forward to my bed."

For a few moments the silence was broken only by the back and forth clump of military boots as the temperature continued to drop.

A voice finally interrupted with exasperation, "Would you please sit down? You're making me dizzy just hearing you."

Without answering, the second body dropped down a foot away. Shivering.

"You're cold! Here, take it back. I have my sweater, I'll be fine."

A glare, "Of course. That's why you were shaking five minutes ago. Keep it, you need it."

A body shuffled over, also glaring, "You can be so stubborn sometimes!"

A jacket billowed out quickly to attempt to cover two bodies while annoyed arms tried to keep it away, "Keep your hands to yoursel - ooohhh." Chilled skin convulsed with the touch of much-needed warmth, the attached body giving up the struggle to stay apart. The minute shifts of two people not quite comfortable with the unplanned intimacy of a shared blanket in the dark lasted a few minutes.

A chirp finally provided a welcome interruption, "Are you there?"

A grouchy, grumbly voice answered, "Yes. Cold. You have this fixed yet??"

"I am afraid not. Some of the wiring in your vicinity needs to be replaced."

"Now??"

"Well. No. It was scheduled for next week... however, it appears they could not wait that long."

The more reasonable voice interrupted, close enough to use the same earpiece, "How long will that take?"

"Approximately... Five hours."

"Five hours!?" The whining made both other parties wince.

"I am sorry. There was no warning..."

"It's alright. I don't suppose you could at least turn off power to the air?" The owner of the voice shivered again, unaware of the quick frown she got in response.

"I dare not. With the limited control... it might cut the air supply entirely."

"Yeah yeah yeah, just get on with it already." A calloused hand ran through always-unruly hair in frustration.

After the connection closed, the silence threatened to come back. "Are you sure you can't get Atlantis to at least change the temperature?"

"No. It's completely ignoring me. And with McKay drunk as a skunk, I can't even get him to figure out why."

"So we're stuck here."

"Yup."

Several minutes passed, then a muffled grunt preceded arms reaching over. A placating voice responded to the resulting squeak, "This position isn't comfortable. Just let me... There. Much better. And warmer." This time one body was across the other's legs. Long arms reached to rearrange the jacket to cover as much of both of them as possible, then wrapped around the soft, warm weight slowly cuddling into the attached chest.

After a few minutes shifting and shuffling to settle in, a sigh of contentment escaped, causing grumpyness to turn into a sudden, unseen, happy smirk.

The temperature settled a few degrees above freezing and both bodies continued to adjust themselves more tightly together, getting used to the intimacy, trying to keep all extremities hidden and generate enough heat to warm the exposed ones. Neither really worried about what now sounded like a minor contretemps rather than another life and death crisis.

A nose nuzzled lightly into thick brown hair, the body taking a bracing breath before commenting with false casualness, "You know, this could be interpreted as Atlantis' way of matchmaking."

A sad sigh into a neck, causing a different kind of shiver. "Don't start again." A hand stroked a breastbones in apology and commiseration, "You agreed that we don't have a choice."

A different hand started playing with a curl of hair under the cover of rubbing a shoulder to warm it. "I've been thinking about that. Did you know that the rumours of 'us' reached the IOA several months ago?"

The sudden inhale was clear in the silent room. As clear as the shocked whisper that followed, "What??"

"Yeah. Caldwell grabbed me the last time he was here and just happened to mention it." Arms tightened in response to the tension that appeared in the smaller body, adding reassuringly, "He didn't seem particularly worried."

"But... Do they know the rumours are false??" Confusion scrambled for footing.

A deliberately casual shrug, "Didn't sound like it."

"So... They..."

"They don't care."

"Look, they probably will bring it up the next time they want to play games or otherwise make trouble but... I hate to say this, but rumours are rumours. Between the two of us, I'm sure we could..." The voice wound down, hesitating to complete the thought out loud.

An even whisper, "Keep evidence of the real thing just as rumoured."

Another silence, this time much more comfortable. That of two minds on the same track, debating risks, ramifications; sacrifices. Weighing hopes and wishes...

"We deserve better than that." The tone was still even; maybe a little wistful.

"Yeah." A sigh, "But this? Isn't better."

The silence was thoughtful this time, "..The lesser of two evils, you think?"

One hand stroked a line of shirt buttons, another a shoulder. Two heads rested against each other, eyes closed in the isolated darkness.

"I'd really like... a little more good out of life. A little more... of your life in mine. Of you in mine."

A dreamy smile, "Not waking up alone?"

A wickedly reminiscent grin, "Yeah, could definitely go for that."

The two bodies cuddled slowly, pretending they weren't stroking, weren't barely avoiding kissing; still not committed. Taking the excuse of needing warmth and feeding their senses; and their battered souls.

Silent nuzzling was finally interrupted by a firm voice, "Okay."

The resulting wide-eyed gape made the speaker smile as she saw the shine of teeth for the seconds it took to be taken into a deep, enthusiastic kiss, the jacket for a moment forgotten by both and dropping. Bodies generating their own heat.

"Have I mentioned I love you?"

The words were mumbled as lips continued to touch lightly, but the listener heard them clear to the heart, pulling back to try to look into dark eyes. Hands slid slowly into chilled, short, messy hair, a body rising to kiss a forehead, then moving into a hug, lips whispering into a nearby ear, "I love you too. Trouble and all."

A chilled snub of a nose peaked over the edge of a jacket, the rest of the body curled up and languorously warm under it, held to a chest rising and falling with light snores.

When the door opened, hazel eyes flew open above brown hair, arms tightening around their burden in protection. Then the eyes blinked as the light hit them and they remembered where they were.

"About damn time," the sleep-gravely voice made the other, half-hidden head lift from the warmth sleepily, green eyes focusing on the spectacled man standing in the door.

"My apologies. We are done." They actually had changed the battle-damaged wiring; his price for participating in this. His now much-less-drunk comrades were waiting for his report around a corner.

"I merely need to check that the panel is fully functional and you may use it." He stepped to the now-lit interface, not looking at the couple getting untangled nearby. There was nothing he could really say to his matchmaking friends. They always looked at each other like that. And they always stood close; even when it wasn't cold. Damned annoying McKay and his crazy ideas sometimes. They weren't going to have sex in a freezing transporter room. Let along leave evidence of it.

Although... He turned his head in the guise of checking the edge of the panel: those lips might just look a little swollen. He raised the ambient light 'accidentally', smiling at them jerkily as they grunted at the excess light hitting their night-adjusted eyes, "Apologies! Fingers slipped." Oh yes, that was a hickey on his neck! Ha! Damn, he owed Rodney a bottle of Vodka.


End file.
